The Sweetest Oblivion

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to graphic violence.

The plastic ring that Elena Abelli wears throughout the majority of the novel is symbolic of Elena’s past. Elena received the ring from her ex-lover and keeps it on her finger in the months following his death. “It came from one of those vending machines and had a purple round-cut jewel in the center. The thought of it sober[s] [Elena]” (14). She isn’t attached to her late lover, but Elena is attached to this era of her life. Fleeing home and staying with the lover is the only time that Elena ever tried to claim her autonomy and stand up to her father. The ring represents this time in her life and constantly reminds her of both her strength and her weaknesses.

Because the ring came from Elena’s late lover, it also represents Elena’s guilt. She refuses to take it off, because it’s a constant reminder of the debt she owes to the lover’s family. Her family killed him when they discovered Elena was living and sleeping with him. In the narrative present, she is determined to atone for this sin and to pay back his family for his death. The ring often feels weighty or haunting to Elena—despite these uncomfortable psychological side effects, she doesn’t remove the ring until after she pays the late lover’s family.

Lori uses the ring as a narrative device to create tension between Elena and Nicolas (Nico) Russo, too. Nico is convinced that the ring proves Elena’s continued attachment to her absent lover. He’s therefore furious that she wears “his cheap ring on her finger like it [is] a diamond” (156). To Nico, the ring is a threat and makes him insecure about Elena’s loyalty. Meanwhile, Elena uses the ring to maintain some shred of power in their relationship; it’s a secret that Nico can’t obtain, and she knows it hurts him. She therefore leaves the ring on to sustain some hold over Nico. When she finally removes it, Elena is letting go of her past and her guilt. She is also letting Nico in.